Posts Tagged ‘copywriting’
Use A SEO Copywriting Strategy
by Rahimah Sultan
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Copywriting involves the creation of textual content for the needs of your target market. It’s broad and includes written content for blogs, advertisements, product catalogs, emails, print media, and websites.
It requires communication with your clients to know what they want and the reason for the copy you’re writing. Understanding your target market or the audience for whom you’re writing is a must.
You need the following for copywriting:
1. A computer or a smartphone
2. Internet connectivity
3. A document app or writing tool like Google docs, Draftable.com, and access to a content management system
4. A tool for checking plagiarism, like CopyScape or another
5. Tools for checking grammar and sentence structure, e.g., Grammarly
What does a copywriter do?
Copywriters write for the internet, and their content is informative for businesses and is designed to guide readers in their own research.
A copywriter is a lot more than just a wordsmith.
As a copywriter you:
Obviously, write
Research
Interview
Edit
Proofread
Plan and implement marketing campaigns, and much more.
The kinds of things copywriters write include:
White papers. Non-government white papers are about 1,500-2,500 words and are informative, educational documents that explain the origins of a problem and how it might be solved. Often that solution will be linked to what the client sells, but the majority of the white paper will be objective and useful. These tend to be gated behind a form, and are used for lead capture.
Case studies. These are short articles explaining how you’ve helped your customers.
Blog posts. These are generally a bit more informal or opinionated, but this varies from client to client.
Emails. Email campaigns are for attracting interest, raising awareness, and prompting an action. They should be short, enticing, and informative to help turn leads into customers.
Social media posts. Social media also requires copywriting for those limited-character tweets and clever Facebook updates.
Website copy. Writing for the web requires a whole other skill set, although many copywriters have it.
Today, it’s essential to have a SEO copywriting strategy for your business. It may be even more important than your social media strategy.
SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of improving your website to get more organic traffic, free traffic from people performing internet searches.
You may have to change your website design, content, and other non-technical features to get better results. Your website should be designed to attract traffic, without you having to pay for it.
This is a way you can continually get traffic, and it pays off in the long run. SEO is used to get your website’s landing pages to rank on a search engine’s first page of results for a particular word or phrase.
SEO copywriting is writing copy with this in mind and maximizing your opportunity for getting free traffic to whatever website, landing page, or offer you have.
SEO is not something that you do once and expect it to keep working. It’s an ongoing process, and you should be ready to keep investing your time and effort in it.
What skills does a copywriter need?
There are certain skills a copywriter must have which include:
Attention to detail: You need to be able to evaluate your work or copy from an objective point of view. This is necessary to properly proofread and edit your work in order to improve or enhance its quality.
Writing: Everyone can write, but not all can do it well. You don’t have to be a top-notch writer before you can attempt copywriting, although improving and fine-tuning your writing skill goes a long way in helping you become a good or even great copywriter.
Creativity: Creativity involves being imaginative and able to view things from different perspectives. Clients rely on the creativity of copywriters to make a copy interesting or engaging to a target audience. When you are creative, the development of copy ideas is easier.
Listening: You must be a good listener to be a good copywriter. By understanding your client’s needs and requirements you can more clearly meet their needs. Being a good listener helps you to become an authority in copywriting.
Along with the proper tools and setup, you need to use a SEO copywriting strategy in your business.
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15 Copywriting Tips to Capture the Interest of Busy Consumers
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
Copywriting requires you to be skillful at crafting headlines. If you have a great headline there’s a better chance of getting what you’ve written read by more busy consumers. But, keeping your audiences engaged is easier said than done.
Below are 15 copywriting tips to capture the interest of busy consumers.
1. Important Information Is Bold Or Bulleted
People don’t really read. They just skim, reading only the headline and bolded or bulleted information.
2. Make Your Copy Professional And Persuasive
Don’t be too basic or mainstream. Be original and fun and give your reader a reason to engage.
3. Help Consumers Connect With Their Emotions
Make your audience feel something about themselves, not you. Their own emotions will induce them to take action.
4. Use A Short Introduction
Get straight to the point, because your readers want to learn something new that’s relevant to them.
5. Use Simplicity
Take a simple approach. Skip the banter and get to the point. Busy consumers want solutions to their problems, so give it to them and quickly offer a CTA.
6. Cover Your Point(s) Quickly
Grab people’s attention and quickly get to the point. Your audience is busy, so get your message to stand out and get to the point then deliver your CTA.
7. Delay Details
Start with the main topic and deliver details later. Busy people are not going to read a boring introduction. If the juicy part of your information is intriguing, they will read more.
8. Skip The Clever Buildup
Don’t waste a lot of time on a clever buildup. If you do, your reader may just move on before getting to the most important takeaway.
9. Know Your Audience
You must know your audience so that you can craft a message, that is immediately relevant.
10. State Exactly What You Want The Reader To Know
Start at the end and then build to support your value proposition by unpacking details a few seconds at a time, thus earning the attention of your audience.
11. Use Multiple Headlines Throughout Your Content
This makes your content skimmable and indicates what’s coming next. Limit detailed information by using links to detailed articles on the subject.
12. Ask Questions
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions, taking strong notes, and recording responses will help yield the best results in the shortest amount of time. Don’t try to be perfect. Get a draft out quickly and write with confidence.
13. Keep Your Message Short
You only have a few seconds to convince people to read what you have to say. So, keep your message as concise as possible.
14. Refine Your Core Message
For copywriting, start by using paragraph form, then cut that down to a statement of one or two sentences. Then whittle your core message down to a phrase.
15. Strike A Happy Medium
When dealing with busy consumers, you need to capture your audience’s attention while keeping the message straight and to the point.
By using these 15 copywriting tips to capture the interest of busy consumers, you can stay focused on your intent and better deliver your message to your audiences.
Source: Forbes.com
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10 Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid in Your Writing
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
While you’re using great copywriting skills to convince your readers to take a particular action, make sure your content is grammatically correct.
Be careful when using autocorrect while typing. It won’t catch grammar mistakes, because a word may be spelled right and be grammatically incorrect. For example:
Your my favorite dancer.
You’re my favorite dancer.
Both words are correctly spelled.
Here are some common writing mistakes that can weaken the sparkle and credibility of your message.
1. Incorrect subject verb-agreement
If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular.
Example: There is so many great ones.
Correct: There are so many great ones.
Example: Everyone was willing to participate. (This is correct.)
2. Missing commas
How you use commas in a list depends on the specific writing style you follow.
An Oxford, or serial, comma is the last comma in a list. It goes before the word “and.”
Example 1: When you go shopping, be sure to get eggs, milk, bread and peanut butter.
When you go shopping, be sure to get eggs, milk, bread, and peanut butter.
Although there are different schools of thought regarding the use of the Oxford comma, when you want to write a good sentence, it’s proper punctuation to always use commas to separate the multiple items you reference in a list.
Technically, it’s grammatically optional in American English.
Example 2: If the shop is closed when we get there we’ll have to wait until next week.
If the shop is closed when we get there, we’ll have to wait until next week.
3. Apostrophes
Apostrophes are generally used in two instances:
For contractions (I’m planning to go tomorrow, if it’s not raining)
To show possession (Susan’s computer means the computer belongs to Susan)
They’re also used to indicate missing numbers in a year, ’89 for 1989 and ’07 for 2007.
4. Hyphens
Example:
Wrong: my 90 year old grandmother
Right: my 90-year-old grandmother
5. Loose or lose
Loose means not firmly or tightly in place.
Example:
Your shoelace is loose.
He might lose the money.
6. Could of, would of, should of
These are incorrect uses of contractions for I could have, I would have, or I should have.
Correct Example:
I should have gone to the reception, and could have, if Tom had been on time.
Slurring in speech results in the common grammar mistake of substituting of for have.
7. Affect and effect
Affect and effect are often confused, although one is a verb and the other a noun.
Affect is a verb that describes something that causes or influences change. Effect is what happens as a result of the change.
“Here’s a mnemonic: A is for action. Verbs are about action. Affect starts with an A, so it’s a verb.”
Correct Examples:
Not getting enough sleep will adversely affect your health.
The effect of not getting enough sleep is bad health.
8. There, their, they’re
There is a location, their shows possession by more than one person, and they’re is a contraction for they are.
Examples:
We live here not there.
They work there but it’s not their shop.
They’re happy to be home.
9. Your and you’re
Wrong: Your my inspiration.
Correct: You’re my inspiration.
Your is the possessive of you.
You’re is the contraction for you are.
10. Then and than
Use then when referring to time.
Than is used when comparing things.
Example:
I’m going to the library then to the store.
That is better than this one.
You can use Grammarly.com (no compensation received here) to check your writing.
Of course, there are some exceptions, to these rules, that are not discussed here.
Always check and recheck your writing for mistakes.
This article only covers 10 common grammar mistakes to avoid in your writing.
Remember that autocorrected writing must be checked for correct grammar usage.
Effective Copywriting for Your Content Marketing
by Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting is the skill of convincing your readers to take a particular action. That could be making a purchase, subscribing to your email list, or calling you for more information.
The most important copywriting skill in your content marketing is crafting headlines. If you have a great headline, the better the chance of getting what you’ve written read by a larger percentage of individuals.
Writing a great headline alone doesn’t guarantee success of your copy. What you offer in the headline still needs to be appropriately satisfied with your content or your offer.
If you have great body content with a bad or even marginal headline it’s probably not going to be read.
The late copywriter Clayton Makepeace said you should ask yourself the following six questions before you start to write your headline:
1. Does your headline offer the reader a reward for reading?
2. What specifics could you add to make your headline more intriguing and believable?
3. Does your headline trigger a strong, actionable emotion the reader already has about the subject at hand?
4. Does your headline present a proposition that will instantly get your prospect nodding his or her head?
5. Could your headline benefit from the inclusion of a proposed transaction?
6. Could you add an element of intrigue to drive the prospect into your opening copy?
These six questions, combined with the framework of the following four “U”s, provide an excellent foundation for writing outstanding headlines:
Your headlines, sub-headlines, and bullets should be USEFUL to the reader,
provide a sense of URGENCY,
convey the idea the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE, and
perform all the above in an ULTRA- SPECIFIC way.
Use your own voice in copywriting. You can be absolutely professional while being warm and likable.
Always check your writing for common grammar mistakes that damage your credibility.
What Else Do You Need To Consider In Your Content Marketing Copy?
Among the things you should consider in your copywriting are the types of copy:
1. Plain copy
It’s a straight forward clear-cut presentation of the facts and benefits of your offer. It’s the most basic approach and introduces your product without gimmick or flair.
You’ll give a prospect the needed information to make an informed decision about the product.
2. Storytelling copy
People love a good story.
We like hearing about interesting people who have overcome challenges that we can relate to.
You can use this storytelling technique in an email series, on a landing page, or in a short video. Whatever the format you’ll include four basic traits:
Opening – Show how the character of the story had a normal life until something happened to destroy that.
Conflict – Show how his/her life was threatened if they didn’t respond to the problem. What did the journey look like as they undertook the challenge?
Dialogue – Introduce a conversation about the journey.
3. Conversational copy – In this style of copy you write as if you’re having a conversation with a prospect.
The language is like that of a salesman sitting down with a customer for lunch. Something that begins with I know how you feel or I can relate to a, b and c.
4. Imaginative copy — You can ask your target audience to imagine life a certain way, what it would feel like to be a successful travel writer, or to pretend what it would be like to live the life of their dream.
Then you present them with a picture of themselves achieving that ideal life by way of a certain product.
5. Long copy – The premise behind long copy is “The more you tell, the more you sell.” These ads convert well.
Since you’re not in front of the person, you have one chance to convert the reader. You should use bullet points to help ensure your most important details stand out.
When you’re following the basic rules of content marketing, remember that you don’t have to present all of the facts and benefits upfront.
You can use your email autoresponder to turn long copy into short easily-digestible snippets and reveal the presentation over a period of weeks.
6. Killer-Poet copy – Your objective is not to convince your audience how smart you are. The goal is to educate and sell with your copy, and to do it with style.
Killer-poet copy sees writing as a means to an end (making a sale), and the ad as an end in itself (beautiful design and moving story). The killer poet combines style with selling. Creativity with marketing. Story with a solution.
7. Third-party endorsement copy
Third-party endorsements can help you sell your products.
It’s really effective to position your sales argument as direct communication between the company founder and his or her customer.
With this down-to-earth approach, the playing field is leveled. It signals to the customer that the CEO is not just some remote figurehead who’s only interested in profit, but is someone who cares.
8. Frank copy – Sometimes copy will point out the negatives of a product and lets you know some work will be required before the benefits show.
This builds trust. When your readers trust you, they will be much more likely to believe you when you point out the good qualities of your product.
9. Superlative copy – Sometimes you can make unusual claims like a revolutionary material making investors rich.
You must be able to provide evidence of what you say. Your proof can be in the form of statistics, testimonials, or research. It’s best to use all three.
Usually, it’s best to avoid all hype.
10. Rejection copy — tries to stop people from being interested in your product.
This copy challenges the reader with the idea that only a select set of people are invited to use the product which could be a particular credit card or a particular group of people.
This is startling to readers as they don’t expect to be turned down.
This approach taps into our sense of wanting to belong. It touches our sense of pride and produces curiosity. We think, “They don’t dare… Watch me.”
Often several of these techniques are combined into one ad.
Whether you’re a company CEO, a copywriter, or a tailor, there’s a copy form for you.
For effective copywriting for your content marketing, consider using some of these tips in your next ad.
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How to Avoid Grammar Mistakes While Writing
By Rahimah Sultan
Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.
So, you’re using your great copywriting skills to create sales or marketing material to influence prospects toward making a purchase.
While so doing, be sure that your content is grammatically correct. Sometimes that autocorrect, you’re using while typing, won’t catch grammar mistakes.
For information on avoiding at least ten grammar mistakes, check out this article.
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